Love Will Keep Us Alive
by PrivatePracticePrincess
Summary: A look into Charlotte and Cooper's new life with three girls.
1. Chapter 1

This is my very first fanfic so bare with me lol

* * *

The sun cracks through the sheer curtains of the bedroom, landing on Charlotte's face, causing her to wake up. She stretches out as she rolls over and smiles at her sleeping husband. She scoots closer to him, and puts her head on his shoulder while rubbing soft circles on his chest. "Wake up sleepy head," she whispers in his hear as she places light kisses on his cheek.

"Hhmmm," he mumbles back.

"Come on honey, we need to get up. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Charlotte starts to makes her way out of the bed, but she's stopped by Cooper's hand pulling her back down on the bed. He envelopes her in a hug and gently kisses her cheek.

"Let's just lay here a little longer."

"But Coop, it's already 8 and we still have to-"

"Five more minutes?" Cooper gives her his best puppy face, and she can't help but smile.

"Fine. Five more minutes, but that's it."

The two roll back into bed, placing passionate kisses on each other's lips. They were just beginning to enjoy their few extra minutes when they heard the sound of footsteps quickly approaching their door. Cooper rolls his eyes and separates from his wife, knowing that they're about to have visitors.

"So much for five minutes," he says sarcastically.

The widest smile takes over Charlotte's face as she see's her three mini-me's flood into the room. She still could not believe that it had already been three years since the triplets entered their way into the world. If she could go back in time, she wouldn't change a single thing about their family. She loved every single thing about her life. She loved what an amazing father Cooper was to the girls. The way they had Cooper wrapped around each of their little fingers. The way Mason had become such an amazing brother. The way she smiled every time she looked into their big eyes. She loved every little thing about their family.

Ella, Eden, and Emerson had made the King-Freedman family complete. They were each tiny replicas of their momma. They each had dirty blonde hair, big hazel eyes, and huge smiles that could light up any room. They were also pretty small for their age, and petite like Charlotte. Despite their similarities, they each had their own personalities that made them who they were.

Ella is the shy one who usually stays glued to her mother's hip. Although she normally keeps keeps to herself, she is definitely the sweetest triplet. Then there's Eden. She's the loud one whose smile almost never leaves her face. Of the three girls, she is most like her father. Charlotte and Cooper agree that she'll be the class clown like her daddy was. Emerson on the other hand, is most like her mother. Even though she's only three years old, Emmy already has an attitude identical to Charlotte's. The attitude is definitely what makes her who she is, but it is also what gets her into trouble. Despite being somewhat of a troublemaker, she always looks out for her two sisters.

They each climb up on their parent's bed, yelling "Daddy! Mama!" almost simultaneously.

"Good morning girls." Cooper gives them a warm smile, pulling Eden on his lap. Emmy crawls in-between her parents, and Ella cuddles up against Charlotte's chest.

"Today is our birfday daddy!" Eden exclaims, looking up at Cooper.

Cooper looks back at her pretending to be confused. "No, I don't think so."

"Yes it is Daddy! Yes it is!" Emmy yells.

"Are you sure?" Charlotte asks, playing along with Cooper's little charade.

"Yes!" The three girls answer.

Charlotte looks at Cooper. "Well, you know what that means Daddy."

Cooper looks back at her and replies, "Birthday spankings!"

The girls loudly breakout in laughter as their parents gently pat their bottoms.

"Alright, I think they've had enough birthday spankings Coop." Charlotte tells her husband. "We need to start getting ready. Let's go have some breakfast so we can get you girls ready for your party."

"Can we have pancakes for bweakfas Mama?" Ella asks excitedly.

Charlotte places a kiss on her daughter's cheek. "Sure you can ladybug."

"Go wake your brother up, and tell him it's time for breakfast. We'll meet you guys downstairs. Okay?"

"Okay!" They reply as they slide off the bed and run down the hall.

Charlotte turns her head and looks at Cooper with soft smile on her face. "What?" he asks.

"Nothing. I just- I love our family so much."

"That makes two of us Char." He reaches across the bed and pulls his wife in for a kiss.

* * *

I hope you guys liked it! Please review and tell me if you want me to keep writing :)


	2. Chapter 2

Charlotte gets out of the shower, finishes getting ready and heads downstairs to join the rest of her family. She walks through the living room and sees Mason sitting on the couch watching tv. She walks past the couch and kisses the top of his head. "Hey Mase."

"Mornin' Momma." He smiles up at her and takes another bite of his cereal.

"When your done eating and getting ready, I'm going to need your help putting up decorations for the party."

"Alright. As long as I can have one of the goody bags later." He replies.

"Can't make any promises." She chuckles, walking into the kitchen.

The triplets are sitting at the kitchen table eating their pancakes while Cooper finishes putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Charlotte walks up behind him and wraps her arms around his waste. "Why don't you go get dressed." She tells him. "I can take it from here."

"You sure?" He asks her.

"Positive." She assures him. "Plus, you have to leave soon to pick up the cake. So go. Get ready. I can handle them on my own."

"Alright." He plants a kiss on her lips and heads upstairs to get ready. "Good Luck." He smirks as he leaves.

"I'm gonna need it." She replies jokingly.

After starting the dishwasher and cleaning up the rest of the pancake mess, Charlotte walks over to the kitchen table. She grabs their plates, places them in the sink and walks back over to them. "Okay girls, lets go upstairs so we can brush your teeth and get dressed." The girls hop down off of their chairs and head towards the stairs.

"I'll race you Em!" Eden tells her sister. The two of them start running up the stairs as fast as their little legs will let them.

"Girls!" Charlotte says strictly. "Be careful!"

Ella sticks by her moms side. "Mama," the little girls says softly. Charlotte looks down at her daughter and sees her tiny arms reaching up for her. She smiles and picks the small girl up, carrying her to their room. She loves how the girls fit so perfectly in her arms, and wishes they would never grow up.

* * *

It's a tough task, but she finally gets all three of them into the bathroom to brush their teeth and out of their pajamas. She walks into their closet and pulls out their dresses. She was so excited when she found the purple and white polka dot dresses when she was shopping a few weeks ago. Her favorite part was was the matching hair bow that came with it. She couldn't wait to see how adorable they all looked in what she had picked out. After she did Ella and Eden's hair and got them into their dresses, she called Emmy over to get her ready. "Emmy, come put your dress on please." The little girl looks up at her momma then continues to play with her dolls in the corner of her room. "Emmy," Charlotte calls out again, knowing good and well that her daughter heard her the first time. Emmy gets up and drags her feet across the room. "Come on sweet pea," Charlotte tells her, trying her best to be patient. "We don't have all day."

Cooper peaks his head into the triplets room on his way downstairs. "Hey, I'm heading out to get the cake. You good here?"

"Yup. We're good." She replies looking at her girls then back at Cooper. "Two down, one to go."

"Alright. Well, I'll be back soon." He says as he goes down the stairs and out the back door.

When Charlotte focuses her attention back on the girls, she notices Emmy digging through her drawer and pulling clothes out. "Emmy, what are you doing?" She asks with a confused look on her face.

"I don't wanna wear that dress Mama." She whines, pointing at the dress Charlotte was holding in her hands.

"Okay." She says, trying her best to be patient once again. "What do you want to wear?"

"This." She replies, holding up her favorite Cinderella night gown.

Charlotte sighs. "Honey, you're not wearing that to your birthday party. Now come over here and put your dress on so I can do your hair."

"No Mama!" She exclaims as she starts to put the night gown on. "I'm not wearing that stupid dress."

Charlotte just closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She's kind of wishing Cooper had never left. He is much better at dealing with Emmy when she's being stubborn and doesn't want to do what she's told.

"Oooooh!" Charlotte turns to see Ella staring at her sister with wide eyes.

"Emmy said stupid!" Eden adds.

"Eden, I heard what she said, and I don't need you to repeat it." Charlotte tells her. "Both of you, go play with your toys downstairs please. I'll be down soon."

"K Mama." They answer as they exit the room, leaving her to deal with Emmy.

She turns back around and faces her daughter, giving her a stern look. Her patience is now almost gone, as she sees her daughter wearing her night gown. "Emerson Hope Freedman." Charlotte says firmly. "Get over here right now."

She knows that when her mother uses her full name, she means business. She walks over to her with her eyes fixed on the ground, and Charlotte kneels down in front of her. "Emmy, look at me." She tells her daughter. The girl continues to avoid eye contact with her mother. "Emmy," she repeats. This time getting her to look up. "I know today is your birthday, but I am not going to put up with this kind of behavior. When I ask you to do something, I expect you to do it. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am," she replies softly.

"Now, is there something you need to say?" Emmy slowly nods her head. "What?" Charlotte asks.

"I'm sorry for not listening Mama." The girl replies sincerely.

A small smile grows on Charlotte's face. She was really proud of her daughter for knowing exactly what she needed to do after doing something wrong. "I forgive you baby girl," she says as she pulls Emmy in for a hug.

She finishes getting Emmy ready then carries her downstairs to her sisters. She sets the three of them on the couch and puts in a movie to keep them occupied while she and Mason put up the decorations.

She's standing on a chair hanging streamers from the ceiling when cooper comes in the house. He places the cake on the counter and walks into the living. "Oh my goodness," he says, smiling at the triplets sitting quietly on the couch. "My girls look so pretty!" He exclaims in awe of their new dresses. He takes out his phone and snaps a quick picture of them.

"Do you like our dresses Daddy?" Ella asks him excitedly.

"Yes sweetie, I love your dresses." He replies. "You look like little princesses."

He sits down on the floor next to Mason and helps him blow up the last of the balloons. After putting the final touches on the decorations, Charlotte sets up some games and activity stations for the kids. When she's done, she breathes a sigh of relief. Everything is ready for the party, and they wait for their guests to arrive.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone starts to show up for the party. The Freedman house is soon filled with kids from the hospital daycare, girls from the triplet's ballet class, a few kids that live on their street, and of course, Charlotte and Cooper's co-workers from the practice. The three girls were excited to see that Jake's daughter Angie also came to the party. She was their favorite babysitter, and the only one they seemed to behave for.

The party goes off without a hitch. Charlotte and Cooper manage to keep the kids busy the whole time, and the triplets were absolutely thrilled with all of their new gifts. Charlotte had been worrying about how the girls would do since she didn't make them take a nap beforehand, but they managed to make it through without a single meltdown. She was also proud of Mason for being a good sport during the party and not complaining about being in a house full of little kids. Since he was such a big help, they decided to let him stay over at a friend's house for the night.

Not long after all the guests had gone home, the triplets were passed out on the couch. Charlotte chuckled when she looked at the sleeping girls who had just insisted that they weren't even sleepy. When she and Cooper finish cleaning everything up from the party, they carry the girls upstairs, change them into their pi's and put them in bed. They give them each a kiss on the cheek and walk out, thankful they had made it through the day.

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**Please please pleaseeee let me know if you like this story! I'll only continue if I get enough reviews**


	3. Chapter 3

A week later, Cooper is awakened by the sound of his alarm clock ringing at six in the morning. He rubs his eyes and looks at the clock, a little confused. He didn't turn it off the night before, forgetting that he didn't have to work this weekend. Charlotte hears it go off, and soon she's up too. "Ugh. Coop, turn it off." She tells him grumpily.

"I am." He tells her. "Go back to sleep."

"Too late for that, I'm already wide awake. Thanks a lot Coop." She groans, upset that she can't fall back asleep.

"Good morning to you too." He replies sarcastically. She gives him a dry look.

He scoots closer to his wife, and holds her in his arms. Charlotte gives in to his hug, still a little upset that she wasn't able to sleep in like she had planned. "You know," he whispers to her. "I could make up for waking you up."

"Oh, really?" She replies with a smirk. "How's that?"

He rolls on top of her and makes the best out of the few hours they have together before the kids wake up.

* * *

Later that day, Charlotte and Cooper are in the triplets room getting them ready for their first ballet recital. This was a day that the girls had been looking forward to for quite some time now. When they first signed them for classes, they were only doing it to get them involved in something, so they could interact with girls their age, but it soon became something that they really loved. Charlotte never imagined herself as a ballet mom, but if it's what her girls wanted to do, she was happy to have that title.

After the girls were all ready, Cooper couldn't help but smile at his daughters. They looked absolutely adorable in their pink leotards and tutus with their hair slicked back into tight buns. "Girls, come over here and stand next to each other so I can get your picture," he tells them. He knew that getting them to stand still for more than two seconds was a challenge, but it was worth a shot. As he excepted, he couldn't get them to smile at the same time. When he finally got a picture, they were each doing something completely different. It wasn't exactly what he as hoping for, but it perfectly displayed each of their personalities, and he was perfectly fine with that.

"Alright," Charlotte says, putting the rest of the girls' stuff in their bags. "Looks like we're all set. Are you girls ready to go?"

They each nod their heads with smiles on their faces. Cooper leads them downstairs with their bags, and Charlotte heads towards Mason's room. She peaks her head inside and sees him lying on his bed playing a video game. "Come on Mase," she tells him. "Time to go."

He looks at her and sighs. "Do I seriously have to go?"

"Yes. We've already had this conversation."

He rolls his eyes and makes his way towards the door.

"It won't be that bad," she reassures him. "Plus, they go to all of your soccer games. It's not going to kill you to go to their recital." She pats his back and they both head downstairs.

A few minutes later, they get the girls settled into their carseats and they're on their way to the recital.

* * *

Charlotte's sitting in the passenger seat and looks up into the rear view mirror. She notices Ella sucking her thumb, which is something she only does when she's upset or doesn't feel well. Charlotte turns her head to looks at her daughter. "You ok ladybug?" She asks. The little girl just nods her head and continues to look out of the window.

When they get to their destination, everyone jumps out of the car, and they make their way inside. Emmy and Eden are holding onto Cooper's hand while Charlotte holds Ella. When they get inside, they head backstage to drop the girls off with their teacher. The girls let go of Cooper's hand as they walk over to the rest of their class. Charlotte starts to put Ella down when she notices that she's clinging to her side. The little girl looks at Charlotte with tears in her eyes and shakes her head.

"I don't wanna go Mama."

"You'll be fine sweetie." Charlotte kisses her cheek and tries again to put the girl on the ground. This time, Ella holds onto her mother even tighter. She had quite a strong grip for only being three years old. Charlotte rubs her daughters back, trying to calm her as her crying quickly turns to sobs. She shoots Cooper a look, signaling that she could use some help. He walks over to her and the two other girls follow him, wanting to see what's wrong with their sister. Cooper takes the crying child from his wife and wipes her tears.

"Why don't you want to go honey?" He asks her.

"I'm scared daddy. I don't wanna do it," she sobs. "I don't wanna." Ella says again as she buries her face in her Cooper's shirt.

"Hey," he says, getting her to look up at him. "Your sisters are going to be up there with you. You have no reason to be nervous. Right girls?"

"Yea El, we'll be up there wif you!" Eden tells her.

Cooper notices that her tears have slowed down, and she's starting to feel a little better. "You're going to do great. I Know you will." He says, putting her on the ground.

"Come on sissy!" Emmy holds out her hand. Ella hesitantly takes her sisters hand then looks back at her parents.

"Go ahead," Charlotte tells her. "Daddy, Mason and I will be right in the front row."

"You promise?" She asks her mother.

"Promise."

With that, Ella takes both of her sisters hands, and they walk back over to stand with their class. Charlotte sighs as she watches them walk away, then she turns to look at Cooper. "Is it wrong that we're making her do this?"

"No Char, this will be good for her. It might help her break out of her shell a little bit." He puts his arm around her shoulder and kisses her temple. "She'll be fine."

She looks back at Ella who's standing with her thumb her mouth. "I hope you're right Coop."

"Come on. We should probably go find our seats." He says as they walk away.

* * *

About an hour later, they're sitting in the audience watching another group of girls perform. When Charlotte hears her daughters' class being announced, she nudges Cooper, who had started to doze off. "Coop, the girls are next." He immediately sits up, excited to see his girls dance. Their teacher walks out on stage, and the girls follow behind her like little ducklings. They all take their place on stage and wait for the music to start.

Tears fill up in both Charlotte and Cooper's eyes when they hear the song Butterfly Kisses come on. They both watch their daughters proudly as they follow along with their teacher. They didn't care how good they were at ballet. The fact that they were up there doing their very best was reason enough for them to be proud. Eden stood confidently on the stage, dancing with the biggest smile on her face. Emmy, on the other hand, was being more of a rebel. She was mostly doing her own thing, completely ignoring teacher. "Typical Emmy," Charlotte chuckles to herself. A tear fell when she looked at little Ella. She was dancing as best as she could while trying keep a smile on her face. She loved that she was trying hard even though she was still a little scared.

When the song goes off, the girls take a bow and the audience applauds. Mason looks over at his parents and snickers. "Are you guys crying?" He asks.

Cooper wipes his eyes and puts his arm around his son's shoulder. "When you become a parent, you'll totally understand."

* * *

After the show, Charlotte, Cooper and Mason are standing in the lobby, waiting for the girls to come out. A few minutes later, the triplets spot their parents and run toward them with giant smiles plastered on their faces. "I did it Daddy! I was a big girl!" Ella Shouts.

Cooper bends down and gives her a bear hug. "Yes, you were! I told you you could do it."

"I'm so proud of you girls." Charlotte says, giving them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Did we do good Mama?" Emmy asks her mother.

"You did better than good. You three were the best ones on that stage!"

"Really Mama?" Eden asks. "Better than the whole class?!"

"You bet." She replies, scooping her daughter up in her arms.

"I think this calls for ice cream." Mason suggests.

"You know Mase, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." He looks over at the triplets. "What do you girls think?"

"Yay!" The three of them yell in unison.

Charlotte holds Eden, and Cooper grabs the other two as they make their way out of the building. Charlotte can't help but smile to herself when she thinks about how proud she is of her three beautiful girls.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I'm running out of ideas for this story so if you want me to write more, just let me know what you want to see happen and I'll see what I can do. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think so far :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the great reviews so far! I have finals this week, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update but I'll try my best. Here's a little something to hold you over. I hope you like it :)**

* * *

The weekend quickly draws to an end, and the Freedman family is back to their weekly routine. Since the triplets were born, Charlotte has cut back on her hours at the hospital, and only works at the practice three days a week.

Her alarm goes off and she rolls out of bed to take a shower. When she's done, she heads to the triplets' room to get them ready. Charlotte always take them to the hospital with her in the mornings and drops them off at the Saint Ambrose daycare while Cooper takes Mason to school.

She smiles when she opens the door to their bedroom and sees the three of them all cuddled up together on Emmy's bed. Every night, Charlotte and Cooper would tuck them each into their own beds, but in the morning they always seem to end up in one bed. Although they don't always get along, the girls had a really strong bond, and Charlotte loved that about them.

She walks over to Emmy's bed and sits down on the edge. "Girls," she whispers. They slowly open their eyes and let out big yawns. "Good morning." She smiles, giving them each a kiss and brushing their hair out of their faces. After getting them dressed and fed, they're out the door and headed for the hospital.

When they arrive at Saint Ambrose, she drops the girls off at daycare and signs them in. "Bye Mama," Ella says.

"Bye sweet pea." Charlotte replies, giving her daughter a kiss. She bends down to her other two daughters to tell them bye. "Bye Emmy, be good." She tells her. "And I don't want any bad reports, do you hear me?"

This was something she had to be sure to tell her daughter on a daily basis, because it wasn't unheard of for her to not behave herself.

"Yes. Bye Mama." She answers as she runs off to play.

Charlotte holds out her arms for Eden to give her a hug. "Bye honey. Daddy is going to pick you up around 11, so I'll see you when I get home." She says, reminding her of her day out with Cooper. When the girls turned two, Charlotte and Cooper agreed that they should both have monthly one-on-one outings with each of the girls. This week it was Eden's turn to spend time her daddy, and she couldn't wait.

"K Mama. Love you." She says and gives Charlotte a kiss.

"Love you too baby." She puts their bags on the shelf and goes to her office to begin her work day.

* * *

A couple hours later, Cooper arrives at Saint Ambrose to take Eden out for their daddy-daughter date. He goes inside and makes his way over to the daycare. Eden is coloring a picture when she sees Cooper at the door. She drops the crayons in her hand and runs over to him. "Daddy!" She exclaims. Emmy hears her sister yell and soon makes her way over to him too.

"Hey honey," he says as he picks Eden up. "Are you ready to go?" The little girl nods her head.

They're about to leave when Cooper hears Emmy's voice.

"Daddy, I wanna go wif you!" She whines.

"But we already had our date. It's Eden turn now." He tells her. "You're going to stay here with Ella until Mommy picks you up, ok?"

"But I don't wanna stay here Daddy. I wanna go wif you!" She says as she starts to cry.

Cooper sighs out of frustration when her crying turns into a temper tantrum.

"Emerson," he says sternly. This gets her attention and she immediately looks up at him. "You are going to stay here and behave yourself. If you keep acting like this, you will be in big trouble when you get home. Understand?"

"Yes," she replies with a pout.

"Go play with your sister." He tells her, and she walks away with her arms crossed. Cooper looks back at Eden. "Alright, let's go." He says and they walk out of the hospital.

"Where are we going Daddy?" She asks him.

"We're going to have lunch at the pier, then we'll spend the rest of the day at the beach. Does that sound good?"

"Yea!" She says with a big grin. "Can we have ice cream and make sand castles?"

"We can do whatever you want sweetie. Today is all about you." He buckles her into her carseat and they make their way to the beach.

* * *

Later that day, Charlotte is sitting at her desk filling out paper work when she realizes what time it is. She had originally planned on staying until she got all of her work done. However, she decided not to when she figured the girls were probably getting restless and ready to go home. She finished what she was doing and swung by the daycare to get the girls.

When they got home, she expected Cooper and Eden to be there, but they were no where in sight. When she thought about it, she really wasn't too surprised. Knowing Cooper, he probably wanted to make the most of this day they had to spend together. She smiled to herself when she thought about how much fun they must being having. After changing out of her work clothes, Charlotte sat the girls down at the table to color while she made dinner.

While she was searching through the fridge for what she needed, she heard the back door open and close. "Coop?" She called.

"Nope. Just me." Mason answered as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey buddy. How was practice?"

"Pretty good, I guess."

"Good. Did you thank Mrs. Samuels for bringing you home?" She asks him.

"Yup. Where's dad?"

"I'm not sure. He said he would be home before dinner, but I haven't heard from him." She tells him. "Why don't you go get washed up. Dinner should be ready in about 30 minutes."

"Ok." He says and heads up the stairs.

Charlotte's about to start the sauce for the spaghetti when she hears her phone ring. She quickly answers when she sees that it's Cooper.

"Hey Coop, I was just about to call you. Are you guys coming home soon?"

_"Charlotte."_ She hears on the other line.

"Amelia?" She asks, a bit confused. "What are you doing with Cooper's Phone? Are you with him?"

_"Cooper is here… at the hospital,"_ She replies.

"Well what's he doing there? Was he paged?"

_"No, Charlotte. He umm- They…"_ she says, unable to form the right words. "_They were in a car accident."_

Charlotte's entire body goes numb, and she feels her world come to a complete stop.


	5. Chapter 5

Charlotte takes a minute to try to compose herself after hearing what Amelia had just told her. She does her best not to panic so that she doesn't scare the kids. "Girls, go put your shoes on. We need to leave."

Ella looks up at her. "But I'm coloring Mama."

"I know sweetie, but we need to leave. Go put your shoes on, now." She walks over to the stairs. "Mase! Come down here. We gotta go." She yells. "And hurry."

She quickly loads everyone into the car and drives off. A million thoughts start running through her mind, and she's on the verge of tears. Mason can tell by the way she's acting that something isn't right.

"What's wrong?" He asks her with a concerned look on his face. She takes a deep breath, trying again to compose herself.

"Momma?"

"Your dad and Eden were in a car accident," she tells him straight out. She thought about putting it in a way that didn't sound so serious, but that would be lying, and she promised to never do that to him.

"A car accident?" He asks. His eyes grow big as his voice gets louder and he's almost yelling. "Was it bad? Are they ok?"

She holds her finger up to her mouth. "Shhh," she whispers, not wanting the girls to hear what's being said between them. Luckily, they wore themselves out, and had just fallen asleep. She can hear the fear in Mason's voice. Her heart aches for him, knowing how terrified he must be, especially after everything that happened with his mom.

"I'm not sure Mase. I don't know anything yet." She notices him look down into his lap as tears start to form in his eyes.

"Hey, look at me." She tells him. He slowly looks up into her eyes. "Everything is going to be ok. They're going to be just fine."

"You don't know that!" He says angrily. "You guys said my mom was gonna be fine too, and look at what happened to her." Tears start to fall down his cheeks, and Charlotte fights hard to hold back her's too. She reaches over and takes his hand into hers.

"Mason, I know you're scared. You have every right to be. But right now we have to be strong and believe that they're going to be ok. You just have to trust me, alright?"

"Ok." he replies softly, wiping away his tears.

* * *

When they get to the hospital, Mason helps Charlotte get Ella and Emmy out of the car. They walk into the hospital as fast as they can without waking the girls. Shortly after they get inside, Charlotte see's Amelia walking down the hallway. "Amelia!" She calls, getting her attention. "What the hell happened? Where are they?"

"Eden is in the room right around to corner. She has a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. She may have a minor concussion but we're waiting on the tests to come back."

"And Cooper?"

"He's in surgery right now. He had a brain bleed," Amelia tells her quietly so that Mason doesn't freak out. He may be young, but he knows how serious a brain bleed can be.

Charlotte takes a deep breath and tries to stay calm. "Is he gonna be ok?" She asks frantically.

"I'm not sure yet Charlotte," she replies hesitantly. Amelia reaches over and takes Emmy from her. "I'll stay out here with them. Go be with Eden. I'll let you know when Cooper's out of surgery."

She kisses the sleeping child on the forehead and walks down the hall to her daughter's room.

When she opens the door, her heart instantly breaks when she sees Eden lying on the hospital bed. She walks over to the bed and sits next to her daughter. The little girl opens her eyes when she notices her mother sitting next to her. "Mama," she says with a shaky voice.

Charlotte wraps her arms around her tiny daughter. "It's ok baby. Mama's here."

"Where's Daddy?" she asked as tears filled up in her eyes. "They taked me away from him cuz he got hurt real bad. Now I can't find him."

"He's with the doctors right now sweet pea."

The little girl's bottom lip starts to tremble. "He had a really big boo-boo on his head Mama. I was really scared."

"Well they're gonna fix Daddy's boo-boo, and make him all better." She tells Eden, doing her best to calm not only her daughter's fears, but her own as well. She tries to think of something that might take both their minds off of Cooper. "You want me to see if the nurse can put a movie in for you?"

Eden shakes her head and starts to cry. "I just wanna see Daddy."

"Me too baby," she kisses her daughters head. "Me too."

* * *

Once she finally gets Eden to fall asleep, Charlotte quietly slips out of her room. She calls Violet and asks her to come pick the kids up since it was starting to get late. When she walks into the waiting room, Mason is sitting down patiently while Amelia watches the girls play in the corner. She assumes either Mason or Amelia told them what was going on, because as soon as they see Charlotte, they run over to her and ask if they can see their sister.

"You can't see her right now, because she's sleeping, but when you come back tomorrow you can see her," She tells them. "Auntie Violet is going to come get you, and you're going to spend the night at her house, ok?"

"K Mama," they reply, and go back to playing.

Charlotte takes a seat next to Mason, and Amelia leaves to get an update on Cooper's surgery.

A short time later, Violet arrives at the hospital to take the kids. They kiss their mother goodbye and take their aunt's hand as they walk toward the door. Violet turns around when she notices that Mason isn't following them.

"Go ahead Mase," Charlotte tells him. "Violet will bring you back first thing in the morning."

"Can I please just stay here with you? I'll be good I promise." He begs. "I don't wanna leave until I know he's ok."

"Mason," she says, cupping his face in her hands. "Remember what I told you in the car?" He nods his head. "I'm already letting you skip school tomorrow. I want you to get a good night's rest, but that's not going to happen if you're here worrying. So go with Violet, alright? Everything will be ok."

"Ok," he sighs.

She gives him a hug and watches them walk out the door.

She can't help but wonder why Cooper's surgery is taking so long. She starts making a list in her mind of all the things that could possibly go wrong. She was trying her best to be strong, but it was nearly impossible. She thinks about what she had just told Mason, and hopes she was right about everything being ok.

* * *

**Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before next week. I hope you enjoyed this one**. **Keep sending me any ideas you have and I'll make sure I write about them. And if you want me to keep writing, keep reviewing! Thanks :)**


	6. Chapter 6

While Amelia was getting an update on Cooper, Charlotte left the waiting room to check on Eden. When she got to her daughter's room, she was relieved to see that she was still sleeping. She grabbed a chair and scooted it as close to the bed as she could. It had only been a few minutes since Amelia left to see what was taking them so long with Cooper's surgery, but to Charlotte, it felt like forever. The more she thought about her husband, the more she wanted to just break down and cry. Trying to stay strong, she took a deep breath leaned her head back against the back of the chair. She had just started to doze off when she heard soft whimpers coming from her daughter's bed. She opened her eyes and looked over at Eden who was shaking in her sleep. She got up from the chair and laid next to the sleeping child. She rubbed soft circles on Eden's back, hoping to soothe her. "Shhh," she whispered in her daughter's ear, "It's ok baby girl." Charlotte couldn't even imagine what kind of nightmare's her little girl was having. Eden had just seen a car crash into them, giving her daddy the kinds of injuries that would be scary for even an adult to see, let alone a three-year-old. It killed her to see her usually energetic and giggly daughter lying so helplessly in that hospital bed. She wanted so bad for her daughter to feel better, but she knew only time would heals those wounds.

Charlotte continued to whisper soothing words into the little girl's ear as she trembled under the cover. Seeing that Eden began to shake even harder, she decided that it would just be best to wake her up.

The little girl slowly opened her eyes at the sound of her mother's voice. Her eyes began wandering around the room and she immediately started to cry. "Daddy?" she said, looking for Cooper.

"Remember what I told you sweetie?" Charlotte asked, wiping some hair out of her little girl's face. "Daddy is with the doctor."

Eden just continued to cry and repeatedly called out for her daddy in between sobs. Charlotte gently picked her daughter up and placed her on her lap. She held her tightly in her arms, placing soft kisses on her forehead and rocking her back and forth, the way she did when Eden was a baby. It didn't get her crying to stop completely, but it definitely calmed her down. As Charlotte reached over to grab Eden a drink of water, she noticed her dinner was still sitting there untouched. She grabbed a half of her grilled cheese sandwich, hoping she would be able to get her to eat some of it.

"I know what will make you feel better," she said with a grin on her face, trying to convince Eden to take a bite. The little girl shook her head and pushed her mother's hand away. "Look sweetie, it's grilled cheese. You love grilled cheese." Eden shook her head again, refusing to take a bite.

Charlotte sighed. "Come on Eden, you really need to eat something." She held the sandwich closer to her daughter's mouth, but she wouldn't open her mouth "Please? Just one bite for Mama?"

"No," Eden whined as she buried her face into Charlotte's chest.

Just as Charlotte was about to try again, she heard footsteps by the door. She looked up to see Amelia standing there. She waited by the door, figuring it would be best not to discuss Cooper's condition in front of the little girl.

Anxious to hear the news, Charlotte gently laid Eden back down and got off the bed. She turned the TV on to some cartoons and walked out of the room.

"So?" She asked Amelia nervously.

"The surgery went well. They were able to stop the bleeding, but they want to keep him here a few more days just to be safe. He's going to be fine Charlotte." She smiled at her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can stop worrying now."

When she heard the good news, she immediately felt relieved. "Thank God," she said as tears of happiness streamed down her face. "Can I see him?"

"Of course. He's right down the hall, through those doors." She replied, giving her his room number.

"Thanks." She said. She took off down the hall to see Cooper while Amelia stayed with Eden.

* * *

Cooper turned his head toward the door when he heard Charlotte come in. "Charlotte," he said softly with a smile on his face.

Without saying anything, she rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. She sat down on the bed, lying her head on his chest, and started to cry uncontrollably. Cooper placed his free hand on her head, and stroked her forehead with his thumb. "Charlotte," he said again, but she didn't move. Knowing how terrified she must've been these past few hours, he didn't say anything else. He just let her lay there and cry.

After a few minutes, Charlotte finally sat up and looked at Cooper. "I thought I was gonna lose you Coop." She sniffed a few times, trying to control her tears.

He smiled up at her, trying to make her feel better. "Come here." He scooted over and reached for her. She laid down on the bed and nestled up next to him. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck and he could feel her tears.

"Look at me," he told her. "I'm fine Char. Really."

"I know. I was just so scared and I didn't know what I would do without-"

"Hey," Cooper cut her off. " You don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," Charlotte smiled and kissed her husband's cheek. "Don't you ever scare me like that again. You hear me?"

"Yes ma'am," he chuckled. "How's Eden?"

"She's alright. Amelia's with her right now," she told him. "She's just pretty shaken up."

"Yeah, I figured," he sighed. "I was pretty out of it when they wheeled me away to the emergency room, but I could hear her screaming for me. I can't imagine how scared she must've been."

"Me neither. I just hate seeing her like this Coop. The only thing she's said for the past hour is 'Daddy' and she won't eat anything. I want my talkative, goofy little Eden back."

"Maybe once she see's that I'm okay she'll feel better."

"I hope so," she sighs.

* * *

A few days later, Cooper and Eden were both discharged from the hospital. Although Eden finally got to see her daddy, she still wasn't quite back to her usual self. Her siblings even came to the hospital a couple times, which Charlotte was sure would help, but it didn't change anything. She was still quiet and hardly ate a thing. Charlotte had to keep reminding herself that it would take time. The car ride home was a bit of struggle. Even though Cooper sat in the back with her, Eden cried the whole way home. The fact that her daughter would be afraid to get back in a car didn't occur to Charlotte until they approached their car, and Eden refused to get in. Having a screaming child in the backseat made the ride home feel like it took hours, but they finally got there.

When they opened the front door, they were greeted by the kids and Violet, who had offered to watch them. The girls were happy to have their sister back home, and Mason was glad to have his dad back. Charlotte was just glad that her family would be under the same roof for Christmas, and that she wouldn't have to spend it without Cooper.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to update! I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you thought about it, and tell me if you want me to do a Christmas chapter. If you do, I'll try to have it up by Wednesday :)**

**Merry Christmas!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I couldn't have it up by Christmas, but here it is! Better late than never, right? I hope you like it :)**

* * *

A few weeks had passed since the accident, and things were finally starting to get back to normal. Eden clung to Cooper much more than usual, but she was definitely back to her usual energetic self. Understandably so, car rides were still a little hard for her, and she would have nightmares every now and then, but she was getting better everyday. Cooper woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve, and smiled at his wife who was still sound asleep with Eden cuddled up next to her.

This time of year was always a lot of fun in their house, especially after having the triplets. This was the first year that the girls seemed to actually understand the concept of Santa Claus, and as Christmas got closer, they got more and more excited. Charlotte and Cooper loved sharing the excitement of Christmas with them. Even Mason enjoyed helping them write letters to Santa, and answering all their questions about how he delivers all of the presents. They were all looking forward to making many more memories this Christmas.

Not wanting to wake Charlotte and Eden, Cooper quietly made his way out of the bed and into the hallway. He was about go downstairs when he heard some stirring coming from the girls' room. He peaked his head into the room and noticed that the Ella and Emmy were starting to wake up. Ella seemed to be the most awake, so Cooper sat down on her bed first.

"Good morning munchkin," he whispered, giving his daughter a kiss.

Ella rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Mornin Daddy," she replied.

When Emmy heard her dad's voice, she climbed out of bed walked over to Ella's bed where he was sitting.

"Daddy," she said softly. Still half sleep, she reached her arms up for him, and he picked her up, sitting her on his lap. "Is it Christmas Daddy?" She asked, looking up at him.

Before he had a chance to answer, Ella chimed in. "Did Santa come?"

Cooper chuckles to himself after hearing his daughters' questions. Every night for the past few weeks, when Charlotte and Cooper put the girls to bed, they would ask if Christmas was in the morning. Even though they told them no each time, they would still wake up asking if today was Christmas and if Santa had come. Cooper hated to see their disappointed faces, but he couldn't wait for them to ask again tonight, when the answer would finally be yes.

"Not yet girls. Just one more day." He tells them.

"Oh," they both replied disappointedly.

"So, what are we having for breakfast?" Cooper asks them.

"Pancakes!" Emmy suggests.

"I thought you might say that," he laughs.

"Wif boo berries! Eden likes those." Ella adds. "She gotted really scared last night. I think they'll make her feel better."

"Yeah Daddy, we have to make lots for Eden too," Emmy says.

"That sounds like a great idea," he says, scooping them both up. "We better get started."

He carries the girls down to the kitchen, and sits them on the counter.

"Sit still," he tells them while he grabs all the ingredients for the pancakes. He gets out a bowl and the girls help him put everything in it.

"Can I stir Daddy?" Ella asks him.

"Sure you can." Cooper tells her, and hands her the wooden spoon.

"No, I wanna stir!" Emmy whines.

"How about you add the blueberries?" Cooper suggests.

"Okay," she replies.

"Alright Ella, we're gonna stir real slow while Emmy adds the blueberries." Cooper grabs the spoon, placing his hand on top of Ella's and helps her stir. Emmy starts to drop the blueberries in.

"Not too many Emmy." He tells her. "Okay, that's perfect."

Just then, Mason walks into the kitchen. "Mornin," he says.

"Hey buddy. Want to help us make pancakes?" Cooper asks.

"Yeah, sure." He replies, smiling at his dad. He helps put the batter on the frying pan, and soon all the pancakes are finished.

The kids sit down at the table and Cooper puts a few pancakes and some fruit on each of their plates. He goes back over to the counter to start cleaning up the mess when Charlotte walks in, carrying a still sleepy Eden on her hip.

"Hey, look who's up." Cooper smiles at them. "Good morning."

"Good mornin'." Charlotte walks over to him, and plants a kiss on his lips. She smiles when she notices the blueberry pancakes, remembering how much Eden loves those.

"Sweet pea," she says, rubbing her daughter's back, "Look at what Daddy made for breakfast."

The little girl lifts her head from Charlotte's shoulder and looks around. "Boo berry pancakes," she says softly with a wide smile on her face.

Charlotte sits her down at the table, and Cooper brings her a plate. "We made these just for you honey," he tells her.

"It was our idea Mama!" Ella says excitedly.

"Yeah!" Emmy adds. "We wanted to make her feel better."

Charlotte gives the two of them a kiss on the cheek. "Well that was awfully sweet of you to think of your sissy."

Cooper fixes himself and Charlotte a plate, and they join their family at the table to have breakfast.

* * *

Later that night, they all change into their Christmas pajamas and get ready to begin their Christmas Eve traditions. After making cookies for Santa, the six of them make their way into the living room to watch a Christmas movie. Mason walks over to their stack of DVD's to pick one out.

"So, what are we watching Mase?" Cooper asks.

"I don't know yet," he says, going through all the movies, "I'm still trying to decide."

"I wanna watch the Princess and the Frog." Emmy says as she grabs a cookie off of the plate that they set out for Santa.

"That's not a Christmas movie sweetie." Charlotte tells her. "And put that cookie down. You've already had plenty."

Emmy pouts and crosses her arms. When she thinks her momma isn't looking, she picks the cookie back up and takes a bite.

"Emerson Hope. What did I just say?" Charlotte points at her daughter. "Put the cookie down now."

"You know Emmy, it's not too late for Santa to put you on the naughty list." Cooper knows that will get her to straighten up.

"That's right," Charlotte says, "Keep misbehaving and you'll get nothin' but coal for Christmas."

"No, I don't want coal!" Emmy immediately puts the cookie back down.

"Well I heard Santa doesn't come to houses that have triplets anyways." Mason teased.

Eden looked up at Cooper with a concerned look on her face. "Is that true Daddy?"

"Not at all sweetie," he chuckled. "Your brother is just messing with you."

A couple minutes later, Mason finally decides on a movie. He opens the DVD player and puts in _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_. They all cuddle up on the couch and watch it together.

Not even half way through the movie, each of the kids were knocked out. After Charlotte and Cooper made sure they were all sound asleep, they went upstairs to get the gifts. After making a few trips, they finally got everything under the tree.

"Is that everything?" Cooper asks.

Charlotte looks around the room. "Looks like it."

"Alright then. Let's go to bed."

"Wait," Charlotte stops him. "The cookies."

"Oh, right." He turns around to eat the cookies and drink the glass of milk. When he finishes, he walks back over towards Charlotte. "Looks like our work here is done Mrs Claus." He wraps his arms around his wife and pulls her in for a kiss.

* * *

On Christmas morning, as expected, the girls are up bright and early. They get extremely excited when they see all the presents and notice that the cookies and milk are all gone. They wake up their brother, who is still sound asleep on the couch, then head upstairs to wake their parents. They open the bedroom door and jump on their bed.

"Mama! Daddy!" They yell.

Charlotte and Cooper slowly wake up, trying their best to be excited at six in the morning.

"The cookies are all gone and there's presents under the tree! Santa came!" Eden says excitedly.

"No way!" Cooper says, playing along.

"Yes he did daddy!" Emmy exclaims, "And there's no coal in my stocking!"

Charlotte and Cooper both laugh.

"Come on." Ella says, pulling on Charlotte's arm. "We gotta open presents."

"Go on downstairs. We'll be down in a second." She tells them as they run out of the room. "Don't unwrap anything until we get down there!" She calls out to them.

Shortly after the two of them brush their teeth, they go downstairs to join to their children. They start opening their gifts, while Charlotte and Cooper just sit back and smile, seeing the excitement on each of their faces.

Mason was very specific about what he wanted for Christmas, so he was not disappointed with his presents at all. He was mainly thrilled about getting the iPad mini. The triplets were also very happy with all their presents. They were most excited about their new Barbie jeep. Charlotte and Cooper were disappointed that it only seated two, but there was no way they were going to pay for two of those things. The girls were going to have to learn how to share.

Once all the presents were opened, Charlotte went into the hall closet, pulled out four more gifts and handed one to each of the kids.

"We decided to save the best for last," Charlotte told them.

Mason opens his gift and sees a red shirt, like the ones from Cat In the Hat, that says _Thing 3. _He looked over to see that his sister's got the same shirts, but theirs read _Thing 4, Thing 5, _and _Thing 6. _Mason just sat there looking at the shirt with a confused look on his face.

"Your Dad and I are Thing one and two," she says.

"Thanks guys, but this is really a letdown after the iPad," Mason says, looking disappointed.

"Well good thing the shirts aren't the big surprise." Charlotte laughs. "Where do you think would be a good place to wear these?"

"I don't know," Mason replies, "A Cat In the Hat play?"

Charlotte and Cooper both look at each other and laugh.

"No, you goofball," she says. "We're gonna wear these to Disney World!"

"We're going to Disney World?" Mason asked with a giant smile plastered on his face.

"Yeah buddy," Cooper tells him, "We leave next week."

"Awesome!" He exclaimed.

This was something that Cooper and Charlotte had been wanting to do for a long time now. They planned on taking Mason for his birthday a few years after his mom had passed away, because she never could afford to take him, but they had to put that on hold when Charlotte got pregnant with the triplets. They decided that the girls were old enough, and that now would be a great time to go.

* * *

Night time finally rolled around and it was time for the kids to go to bed. The girls had worn themselves out playing with all their new toys, and Mason was glued to his iPad all day, so none of them put up much of a fight. After Charlotte and Cooper tucked the girls in, they headed back to their room to get ready for bed.

Cooper walked out of the bathroom, and saw Charlotte sitting on the bed with a present on her lap.

"What's this?" He asked, sitting down next to her. "I thought I already got all my gifts."

She smiled at him and handed him the present. "There's just one more."

"Why didn't you give it to me earlier? Is it something naughty?" He grins.

Charlotte just rolls her eyes. "Would you stop babblin' and open it."

He tears off the wrapping paper and opens the box. His mouth drops when he sees what's insides. He holds up a small red onesie that says _Thing 7_. A huge smile grows on his face.

"Oh my God." He looks over at his wife. "Oh my God!" He repeats, putting a hand on her stomach. "We're having another baby?"

She nods. "We're having another baby." She smiles at him and cups his face in her hands. "Merry Christmas honey." She says, pulling him in for a kiss.

"Merry Christmas Char."

* * *

**Did you like it? Give me your thoughts!**


	8. Chapter 8

After the Freedman family returned from their trip to Disney World, the relaxing holiday break quickly came to an end. They were back to their hectic work schedules and driving the kids back and forth between soccer and ballet.

Cooper woke up early on Monday morning surprised to find the other side of the bed empty. He made his way to the bathroom to get showered and dressed, then he headed downstairs to find his wife. When he entered the kitchen, he found Charlotte making Mason's lunch, and the triplets sitting at the table eating breakfast. Most mornings, Charlotte and the girls weren't fully dressed by this time, but today they were, leaving Cooper a bit confused.

"Mornin' Daddy!" Emmy said with her mouth full of cereal.

"Emmy," Charlotte said sternly. "What did I tell you about talking with food in your mouth?"

Emmy closed her mouth and looked back at her mother with a guilty look on her face.

Cooper chuckled and leaned over to give each of his daughters a kiss, then walked over to the counter where Charlotte was standing.

"Good morning," he says, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "Did I miss something?"

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte asked him.

"You guys usually aren't dressed and ready this early," he told her.

Charlotte stopped what she was doing and glared at her husband.

"What?" He asked with confusion on his face.

"You forgot, didn't you?" She asked disappointedly.

Cooper racked his brains trying to think of what he could've possibly forgotten, but he couldn't come up with anything.

Charlotte grew frustrated with him as she realized that he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Girls, go put your shoes on please." Charlotte told her daughters. She waited until they were out of kitchen before she continued the conversation with Cooper.

"The ultrasound, Coop."

"An ultrasound? Today?" He said scratching his head. "I don't remember you saying anything."

"Of course you don't." She sighed, zipping Mason's lunchbox and placing it next to his book bag. "I've got to remember not to tell you things while you're on the phone with Violet and watching American Bake-Off. You swore you were listening, but I should've known better."

"I completely forgot, but I'll be there. I promise," he said. "I'm sorry sweetie. Really, I am."

Cooper walked closer to her and attempted to give her a kiss, but she pulled away, clearly upset with him.

"I've gotta go, Coop." She said, quickly gathering all of her things and walking out of the kitchen. "I'll see you at the practice at 8."

"Wait. Why are you in such a hurry?" Cooper asked. "You have plenty of time."

"No I don't. I have to get the girls to daycare before the appointment," she told him.

"Why don't you just take them to daycare afterwards since you have to go to Saint Ambrose later anyways."

"Because I can't have them in the room while I'm getting the ultrasound. You know how curious they are. They'll just ask a bunch of questions, then we'll have to tell them. And if I ask someone else to keep an eye on them, they'll want to know why."

"Maybe we should just tell everybody. It would make things a lot easier," Cooper suggested.

"No! I'm not ready for anyone to know yet, especially the girls."

"Char, we're going to have to tell them at some point," he sighed. "This is going to be a big adjustment for them, so the sooner they know, the better. They're only three. They're going to need time to process this."

"You think I don't know that, Cooper?" She said, almost yelling. When she noticed how worked up she was getting, she took a second to calm herself down. She wasn't that far along with the pregnancy, but she was already getting emotional over every little thing, and she hated that. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then looked back at her husband.

"We're going to have to finish this conversation later." She told Cooper. "Make sure Mason, gets to school on time. It's the first day back, I don't want him to be late."

She grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

"Let's go girls!" She called into the living room where they were playing. The triplets quickly made there way to the door after hearing their mother call. "Tell your daddy bye," she told them.

They each wrap their tiny arms around Cooper's legs and tell him goodbye.

"Bye girls. I love you." He said, hugging them back and kissing their foreheads.

Charlotte opened the door and walked out with the girls, without saying goodbye to Cooper.

His day had barely even begun, and his wife was already upset with him. _Great,_ he thought to himself. _This day is off to a terrible start_.

* * *

After dropping Mason off at school, Cooper arrived at the practice and still had some time to spare before Charlotte's ultrasound. He walked over to Violet's office and peeked his head inside. "Hey Vi, you got a sec?"

Violet looked up from her computer and smiled at her friend. "Of Course, Coop. Have a seat."

She got up from her desk and sat down next to Cooper on the couch. "So, what's up?" She asked.

"The mother of one of my patients is pregnant, and she needs some advice on how she should tell her three-year-old," he explains.

He knew there was a chance she might figure out the real reason why he was asking, but he was willing to take that risk.

"Well," she began, "I would recommend waiting until the pregnancy is well established. That way, there's a lower chance that the mother could miscarry, which is much harder to explain to a child. It's also best to wait until the mother is showing, because it's easier for a child to believe that there's a baby growing in their mother's belly if they can actually see and feel the bump."

"Ok." Cooper nods as he follows along, taking a mental note of everything she's saying.

"And it's important to start laying down the groundwork a few weeks prior to telling the child," she continued.

"What do you mean?" Cooper asked.

"It means that the parents should warm the child up to the idea of there being a new baby in the house. Then, when they finally tell them, the child is more likely to have a positive reaction." she explained. "For example, reading them a book about becoming a big brother or sister. I know of some parents who found it helpful to tell their kids what it was like for them when they became an older sibling."

Violet paused for a second while Cooper took in all the information.

"Does that help answer your question?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it does. Thanks a lot Vi," he smiled. "And if she has anymore questions I'll send her your way." He figured he'd add that last bit just make it more believable.

"Anytime time Coop," she said, giving him a hug before got up and left.

As he exited his friend's office, he breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she didn't figure anything out.

* * *

When Cooper walked into the exam room, Charlotte was lying down, waiting for Addison. She turned her head toward the door when she heard it open.

"Hey," she said, looking at her husband.

"Hey," he replied, leaning over and kissing her forehead. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry about this morning," she said sincerely. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I shouldn't have gotten so upset."

"Char, you don't need to apologize. I should've listened to you when you told me. I'm sorry."

"It's ok Coop," she smiled at him. "Just try to be a little more attentive when you're watching that stupid show."

"Hey!" He exclaimed, pretending to be offended. "American Bake-Off is not stupid."

Just then, Addison walked into the room. After greeting them, she walked over to where Charlotte was laying and squeezed the gel onto her stomach. "You guys ready to see your baby?" She asked them. Cooper took Charlotte's hand and they both nodded.

"If this ultrasound looks anything like the last one, someone is gonna die." Charlotte said jokingly, but she was partly serious. Imagining herself being pregnant with another set of triplets terrified her. "Of course when I say someone, I mean you, Cooper." She glared at him, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"What can I say? My guys are champions," he said proudly.

"Well, fortunately, no one is going to be killing anybody. Looks like there's only one baby this time." She smiled, showing them what was on the screen. "One healthy baby."

* * *

**I'm thinking about ending this story, so there probably won't be that many more chapters. **

**Tell me what you think**


	9. Chapter 9

A few weeks had passed since the first ultrasound, and other than some mild morning sickness, things were going pretty smoothly. Charlotte was only about 15 weeks pregnant, so her slight baby bump was easy to hide, and they still hadn't told their kids or any of their coworkers. Cooper stopped bugging her about telling everyone a while ago, knowing it would only make her mad. He knew that she would tell them when she was ready.

Charlotte was sitting in her office at St. Ambrose one afternoon going over patient files and filling out paperwork. As she reached across her desk to grab another file, she accidentally knocked over one of the picture frames that sat on her desk. She picked it back up, and a smile grew on her face as she looked at the picture of her four kids at beach that past summer. As she sat there staring at it, she realized why she loved it so much. To Charlotte, what made the picture perfect was the fact that it wasn't perfect at all. Thinking back on that day, she remembered everything so clearly. It wasn't your typical family picture where everyone was sitting nicely with big smiles on their faces. That was the kind of picture they were hoping for, but it ended up being the exact opposite. Inside of the frame that had the phrase _Live, Laugh,_ _Love_ carved into it, there was a picture that displayed everything Charlotte had grown to love about her family.

Emmy sat on the very left, tossing a fist full of sand into the air. Charlotte laughed to herself as she recalled how frustrated she was with Emmy, after she had told her countless times not to throw the sand. Of course, being the stubborn child that she is, and having inherited her momma's strong gene's, she did it anyways.

Next to Emmy was Eden. Being her usual goofy self, she sat there in the sand with a small beach bucket over head. The bucket was covering most of her face, but stopped just short enough to reveal the biggest smile that she had ever seen. Charlotte swore that you'd be able to see it from a mile away. Eden was the type of kid that was always finding a way to make herself laugh. That girl was most definitely her father's child.

Then there was Ella. She sat next to her sisters, staring up into the sky at the seagulls flying high above her head, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She paid no mind to her father's voice telling her to look at the camera. She was too fascinated with her surroundings. She wasn't smiling or laughing, but she had a look on her face that Charlotte knew all too well. A look that meant she was happy. Something that Charlotte and Cooper quickly noticed about her personality was that she didn't express herself in the same way her sisters did. It was the little things that made her the happiest.

Lastly there was Mason, sitting to the right of his sisters. He had the palm of his hand pressed against his forehead, expressing how annoyed he was at the moment. He just wanted to get the picture over with so he could go back out into the water, but his sisters weren't cooperating. One thing Charlotte appreciated about Mason was that he never used his annoyance with the triplets as an excuse to get mad at them. He was always patient with them, and Charlotte loved that.

For some reason, this was the first time that Charlotte was able to see what made the picture so great. It was a combination of Emmy's rebelliousness, Eden's goofiness, Ella's contentment, and Mason's patience. Not only did that combination make the picture perfect, but it's also what made their family complete.

* * *

Charlotte was pulled from her reverie, when she heard the door to her office open. She smiled when she saw that it was Cooper.

"Hey you." She smiled, getting up from her desk to greet her husband.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a long heated kiss.

"Wow," he grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist. "What was that for?"

"I missed you this morning. You were gone when I woke up."

"Yea, I had a lot of patients at the practice this morning."

"Well what are you doing here?" She asked.

"One of my patients was brought into the ER a little bit ago," he explained. "I stopped by to tell you I might not make it home for dinner. I'll probably be here for a while."

"Don't worry about it Coop, I understand." She leaned in and gave him another kiss. "Will you be home by bedtime? The kids haven't seen you all day."

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll try to be," he sighed. "I have a little time. Do you want to grab lunch?"

"I was actually about to head out," she told him. "I figured I would get the girls and take the rest of this paperwork home. I don't want to keep them here any longer than they have to be."

"Alright, well I'll see you tonight." He said, giving her one last kiss before he left. "I love you."

"Love you too, Coop."

* * *

After Cooper left, Charlotte gathered all of her work and headed towards the daycare to get the girls.

When one of the daycare workers saw Charlotte coming, she called after the triplets. "Girls, look who's here," she smiled at them.

Eden and Emmy looked over from where they were quietly watching a movie and ran toward the door.

"Mama!" They both exclaimed.

"Hi girls!" She grinned. Nothing made her happier than being greeted by their smiling faces at the end of every work day.

As she was signing them out, another daycare worker walked over holding Ella in her arms. When she saw her mother, she immediately stretched her arms out for her.

"Hey ladybug," Charlotte said, pulling the girl into her arms and kissing her cheek.

The little girl stuck her thumb in her mouth and rested her head on Charlotte's shoulder.

"What's wrong El?" She asked her daughter, but she got no response.

"I think she may be coming down with a cold," one of the workers said. "She wasn't acting much like herself today."

Charlotte looked down at the little girl in her arms. "You don't feel good?"

Ella shook her head and nestled her face into the crook of Charlotte's neck.

"Alright, well let's get you home," she said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Come on girls."

Eden and Emmy grabbed their bags from their cubby and met Charlotte at the door. Charlotte grabbed one of Eden's hands and Emmy grabbed the other, so they were all joined together, and they walked out the door.

When they got home, Charlotte turned the TV on to cartoons for Eden and Emmy to keep them occupied while they played in the living room. Then, with Ella on her hip, she walked into the kitchen to give her something for her cold. She sat her daughter down on the counter, then she poured the medicine and filled her sippy-cup with juice.

"Here you go sweet pea," she said, handing her the medicine. "Drink this."

"Noo Mama," she whined.

"Ella," she said sternly. "Don't argue with me."

Charlotte was really hoping Ella didn't get any worse than she already was, because she gets extremely cranky and moody when she's sick.

Ella took the medicine and washed it down with some juice.

"See, it wasn't that bad." Charlotte picked her back up and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. She laid Ella down on her bed and pulled the cover over her.

"Your juice is right here if you get thirsty," she said, bending over and kissing her daughter's forehead. "Try to get some rest baby."

* * *

After finishing the rest of her paperwork and picking Mason up from school, Charlotte made her way to the kitchen to start dinner. As she was cutting up vegetables for the pasta, she heard the girls yelling back and forth at each other. She usually left their arguments for them to sort out on their own, but she was starting to get annoyed, so she decided to put an end to it herself.

"Girls, knock it off!" She yelled and the bickering died down.

When Charlotte heard footsteps enter the kitchen, she turned around and saw a sleepy Ella standing there.

"You feelin' better?" Charlotte asked her.

The little girl shook her head and rubbed her eyes. She walked over to the counter where Charlotte was standing.

"Mama," she said softly, reaching her arms up for her mother. "Up."

"I can't hold you right now sweetie. I need to finish making dinner."

"Mama! Up, please," she said, tugging on Charlotte's shirt.

"I said not right now Ella. Go lie down on the couch and I'll come in there when I'm done cooking."

"No, Mama," she started crying. "I want up!"

Just as Ella began to throw a temper tantrum, Charlotte heard a loud thud come from the other room, followed by a loud cry.

Charlotte ran out of the kitchen and Ella followed behind her. When she entered the living room she saw Emmy laying on the floor sobbing. She must've fallen and hit her head on the table, because she was holding her hand up against her forehead.

"What happened?" She asked, getting down on her knees to look at her daughter.

"She pushed me!" Emmy cried, pointing at Eden.

"But she hitted me first! And she tried to take my doll." Eden yelled back.

"I don't care what she did, you keep your hands to yourself." Charlotte told Eden, then she looked down at Emmy. "And you know better than to hit your sister."

"But I had the doll first!" Emmy exclaimed.

Charlotte lifted Emmy back onto her feet, then took the doll from Eden. "Well now it's mine, and you two are gonna go sit in your time out chairs until I say you can get up. Go. Right Now."

The two girls pouted their lips, crossed their arms, and angrily walked over to their chairs on separate ends of the room. "I don't want to hear a single word come out of either of your mouths. Do you hear me?" Charlotte told them, and they both nodded.

After they sat down, Charlotte turned around and looked at Ella.

"And if you throw another hissy fit like that, you will be joining them in time out." Charlotte told her strictly.

She sighed and walked back into the kitchen to finish making dinner.

All of the sudden, she became overwhelmed with thoughts about what her life was going to be like after this baby was born. In less than seven months, she would have four kids under the age of three. She thought she was ready for the new addition to her family, but now, she wasn't so sure.

* * *

**Like I said before, I'll probably be ending this in a couple of chapters because I'm running out of ideas and I feel like it's getting boring. But if you guys want me to write more, let me know and I will.**

**I hope you liked this chapter :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**I hope you like this chapter! I had fun writing it :)**

* * *

When Cooper got home later that night, just past seven, he noticed that the house was a little quieter than normal. At this time, on most nights, Charlotte would be trying to get the triplets out of the bathtub and into their pajamas while they fussed about not wanting to go to bed. Then, Cooper would threaten to turn to into the "tickle monster", as the girls called it, if they didn't get in the bed, and he would read to them until they fell asleep.

"Charlotte?" He called as he walked into the living room. When he got no response, he walked over to the stairs and called for her. "Charlotte?" He repeated. "I'm home!"

Seconds later, Charlotte appeared at the top of the stairs with a heated look on her face.

"Would you shut the hell up?" She whispered loudly, looking down to where Cooper was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "I just spent the past hour trying to get your children to go to bed, and if you wake them up, I swear to God, I will kill you."

Whenever the triplets gave her a hard time, she always referred to them as "your children". She had clearly had a rough day. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a tank top, and her hair was in a messy ponytail.

"Sorry." He whispered back, and Charlotte disappeared around the corner into their bedroom.

Cooper was a bit startled by his wife's sudden outburst. He walked up the steps and followed her into the bedroom. He unbuttoned his shirt and looked over at the bed where Charlotte was sitting, folding laundry.

"Rough day?" He asked, changing into some sweat pants and a t-shirt.

"Rough doesn't even begin to describe it, Coop," She replied.

He sat down on his side of the bed, resting his back against the headboard, waiting to hear about the long day that she had.

"The girls were givin' me hell all day," she began. "Eden and Emmy were constantly going at. Fussin' and fightin' over every little damn thing. Putting them in time-out didn't do any good, so I made them go to bed early. As you can imagine, they weren't very happy about that, so I had to deal with another round of temper tantrums. And on top of that, Ella has a cold. She was begging for my attention every two seconds and throwing hissy fits when I was too busy to hold her. I don't blame her though. The poor thing was miserable."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, my day wasn't any better," he told her. "I got to spend my evening with a bunch of sick patients. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I'd much rather be home with my crazy kids."

Charlotte chuckled in reply to his statement as she continued to fold the clothes, but he could tell something was bothering her.

"Hey," he said softly, putting his hand on her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." She replied, trying to convince him with a smile.

"Charlotte," he said, tilting his head and giving her a look. "Come here."

She put the rest of the folded clothes in the laundry basket on the floor and crawled across the bed to where Cooper was laying. She nuzzled up next to him and rested her head on his chest.

"I know you well enough to know that when you say you're 'fine', nine times out of ten, you aren't. What's wrong?" He asked her again.

She sighed and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I'm not ready for this baby, Coop."

"Oh sweetie," he said softly and kissed her temple.

"I thought I was, I really did. I was even a little excited. I mean, we already have four kids. One more isn't gonna hurt." Cooper used his thumb to wipe away a tear that started to fall down her cheek.

"But now," she sighed, "it just feels like too much. You and I both know that the girls need so much attention, and once this baby is born, I don't know how we'll be able to give that to them. And earlier today, when they were driving me absolutely insane, I realized that it's gonna be even crazier once I have this baby."

"Char," Cooper pulled her in closer and wrapped his arms around her. "I know this is a little overwhelming, but you are an amazing mother. That isn't going to change once this little nugget is born."

Charlotte smiled as she rested her hand on Cooper's cheek and leaned in for a kiss.

Cooper moved his hand down and placed it on his wife's small baby bump. Then he looked down at her belly with a big grin on his face.

"Don't even think about it, Cooper." She said, giving him a look.

"Oh, come on. Please, Char?" He replied, looking at her with sad puppy eyes. "I'll make it quick. I promise."

"Fine," she sighed and rolled her eyes. She figured she'd go ahead and let him, because regardless of what she said, he'd end up doing it anyway.

Cooper wiggled his way down the bed until he was facing Charlotte's stomach. He lifted her tank top and placed a soft kiss on her belly.

"Hello little King-Freedman," he grinned. "You're only about the size of an orange right now, but I already love you so much."

Charlotte couldn't help but smile as she listened to Cooper talk to their unborn child. She rested her hand on top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair.

"You don't know it yet, but you have the best family. Your momma is the most amazing woman in the world. I know you're going to love her just as much as I do."

He paused for a second and smiled, then he kissed her stomach again.

"Oh, and one more thing," he added, "try not to give your momma a hard time in there. I don't want her to take her anger out on me."

Charlotte chuckled at his comment. "Are you done down there?"

"Not quite," he replied with a seductive smirk on his face.

He lifted her tank top up some more and slowly trailed kisses from her stomach up to her collar bone. He continued to kiss and suck on her neck, then he moved up to the spot behind her ear, right where he knew she loved to be kissed.

"Cooper," she moaned, which turned him on even more.

Charlotte moved her hands down her husband's side and grabbed the end of his t-shirt. Cooper sat up so she could pull it over his head, and she tossed it on the floor. Then she reached up and cupped his face in her hands as he straddled her, and she pulled him down towards her. Their lips met, and what started as a kiss quickly turned into a passionate battle between their tongues inside each others mouths.

Just as things were starting to heat up, the handle to their bedroom door wiggled, and it slowly opened.

Cooper quickly rolled off of his wife, and Charlotte pulled her shirt back down.

Ella entered the room with tears streaming down her face as she tightly clutched onto her blanket.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Charlotte asked, hopping off the bed. She walked over to her daughter and scooped her up into her arms.

"I don't feel good." She sniffled, resting her head on her mother's chest.

"Ok, let's go get you some medicine," she said, gently rubbing Ella's back. Before she left the room, she turned around and gave Cooper an apologetic smile. "I'll be right back."

She walked out and carried Ella downstairs. She sat her down at the table and put a tablespoon of cold medicine and a cup of water in front of her. When Ella put down her blanket to take the medicine, Charlotte noticed she that had been using it to wipe her runny nose, so she picked it to up to toss it into the washer.

As she started to walk toward the laundry room, Ella got down from her seat and ran after her mother, reaching for her blanket.

"No, Mama. My bankie!" She whined, "I want my bankie."

"It's dirty, ladybug. I need to wash it." She told her, putting it in the washer along with some other dirty clothes. "I'll give it right back, I promise."

"K," she replied.

Ella put her hand up to her throat, and tears started to form in her eyes again. "My throats hurts bad."

"I know, baby." Charlotte picked her back up and kissed her sweaty forehead. "It might take a little bit for the medicine to kick in."

She rubbed circles on Ella's back and slowly swayed back and forth, trying to console her.

"But until then, I think I know what might help," she added. "But, It has to be our little secret. Okay?"

"Shhhh!" Ella said, holding her finger up to her lips.

"That's right, baby girl." Charlotte chuckled, holding her finger up to her lips like her daughter did. "We can't tell Daddy."

She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a popsicle out of the freezer. She opened it up, then handed it to her. They walked back over to the table and sat down, as Ella stuck the popsicle in her mouth.

"How's that taste?" Charlotte asked her.

"Yummy," She replied with a wide grin.

A few minutes later, Ella finished the popsicle, although, most of it ended up all over her mouth and hands. As Charlotte was getting her cleaned up, Mason walked into the kitchen with a piece of paper and a pencil in his hand.

Charlotte turned around when she heard him come in. "Hey bud. Shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?"

"Yea, but I have to finish my math homework first." He said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I still have a few more problems left, and I need help."

"Okay, just give me a second."

She finished wiping the remnants of the popsicle off of Ella's face, then she put her down.

"Go upstairs and lay down with Daddy," she told her. "I'll bring your blankie up when it's done."

"K. Night night, Mase." She said, leaving the kitchen.

"Goodnight, sis." He replied with a smile.

"Alright," Charlotte said, joining mason at the table. "Let's see if I still remember seventh grade math. I'm pretty sure this stuff has gotten harder since I was in school."

"But you're a doctor. How could you not remember seventh grade math?" Mason asked.

"Oh, you'd be surprised at how much stuff you forget as you get older."

"Yea, that's a good point. I guess you are pretty old."

"Hey!" Charlotte exclaimed, pretending to be offended. "I am not old!"

"I was joking!" He laughed as Charlotte tickled his side. "I was joking!"

"That's right. You better be joking, mister," She smiled. "Let's get this homework done."

Charlotte grabbed Mason's paper and began reading over one of the problems he was stuck on.

"Momma, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," She replied, looking up from the paper.

"But you have to promise me that you'll think about it before you say no."

"Okay," she said slowly, completely unsure of what was about to come out of her son's mouth.

"Can we get a dog?"

Before Charlotte could even say anything, Mason started to speak again.

"I know it's a big responsibility, but I'll take really good care of it! You won't even have to do anything. I'll do all the work."

He was talking so fast that it all started to sound like one long sentence. Charlotte could tell he had been thinking about this for a long time, and was waiting for the right time to ask her.

"And the triplets will love it. They love dogs! They're always asking to play with the neighbor's dog, so I thought maybe now would be a good time. So, can we please get a dog?"

"Mase," she wanted to stop him before he got his hopes up, but he cut her off.

"I'll be really good! And I'll train the dog to be really good too. I'll keep my room clean, I'll keep my grades up. I promise!"

"Mason, I don't have the slightest doubt that you're responsible enough to get a dog, but I'm not sure now is a good time."

"Why not?" He asked disappointedly.

She hesitated a little bit before answering. "It's just not a good time, but maybe we can revisit the idea of a dog next year."

"But now is the perfect time! The girls would love to have a dog, and I'm sure Dad would think it's a good idea. I've been looking online, and I read that Golden Retrievers are great family dogs. Plus, we have the perfect yard for one."

"Maybe next year buddy," she said apologetically.

"Come on, Momma. You barely even thought about it."

"Yes, I did," she said, trying to convince him.

"Can you at least give me one good reason?"

"Mason," she sighed.

"Just one," he repeated.

If she didn't give him a legitimate reason, there was no way he was going to let up. She and Cooper had planned on telling him together, but she felt like she had to tell him now.

She rubbed her forehead and thought about how she should say it, but she decided to just come out with it.

"Mase, I'm pregnant."

Mason was caught off guard by what he had just heard and his eyes grew big.

"Oh," he said, looking down into his lap.

Charlotte was unable to read the expression on his face to determine whether he was ok with it or upset.

"Are you upset?" She asked him softly, testing the waters. "It's okay if you are. I know it's a bit overwhelming."

"I'm not upset, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders then looked up at her. "I mean, it might be fun having a baby in the house, just as long you're not having triplets again. You're not having triplets are you?" He asked frantically.

"No, thank goodness."

"Good," he laughed.

"I'm glad you're okay with it, but if you ever feel like you aren't, you can come talk to me, okay?" she told him, placing her hand on his arm.

"Okay," he smiled.

"And don't say anything to your sisters, or anyone else for that matter. You're the only person we've told."

"Because I'm your favorite, right?" He grinned.

Charlotte laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Absolutely," She smiled, leaning over and kissing the top of his head.

* * *

After helping Mason finish his homework, Charlotte waited for Ella's blanket to finish drying, then she headed upstairs to go to bed. When she walked in the room, Ella was laying on top of Cooper, fast asleep.

Cooper's eyes opened when he felt Charlotte crawl into bed next to him.

"Looks like we won't be finishing what we started tonight." Charlotte said, looking at her sleeping daughter.

"We could improvise," he suggested jokingly.

"I don't think so," she chuckled back.

She scooted closer to Cooper so they could talk quietly without waking Ella.

"I told Mason," she said, looking up at him.

"Told him what?" He asked confused.

"About the baby. He was bugging me about getting a dog. He wanted to know why now wasn't good time, and I couldn't lie to him. I had to tell him."

"And how did that conversation go?" He asked curiously.

"He took it pretty well. I was worried that he might be upset, but he seemed okay. He was just a little bummed about not being able to get a dog."

"I think getting a dog is a great idea," Cooper suggested.

"Nice try, Cooper." Charlotte said, pulling the cover up to her waist. "I'm not budging."

"Well, it was worth a shot," he grinned.

Charlotte laughed as she leaned over to give Cooper a kiss.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Char."


	11. Chapter 11

_A few days later…_

Charlotte rolled over in bed as the violently loud sound of her alarm clock woke her from a peaceful slumber. She rubbed her eyes as she climbed out of bed, and slowly made her way into the bathroom. She laughed when she walked in and heard Cooper singing Don't Stop Believing at the top of his lungs. She walked over to the shower, opened the door, and poked her head inside.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked him.

"Join me in singing, or in the shower?"

"In the shower," she said as she undressed.

"What kind of idiot would I be if I turned down a hot shower with my wife?"

She chuckled, then started to make her way into the shower.

"I'm only gettin' in if you promise to stop singing."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," he laughed as he pulled her in with him.

"I hate to break it to ya, Coop, but you're terrible." She smiled and pressed a kiss onto his lips. "But it doesn't make me love you any less."

Charlotte turned around in Cooper's arms and reached for her sponge and the soap. As Charlotte was washing up, Cooper's hand roamed the front of her stomach and began to wander lower and lower. He obviously wanted to do more than just shower.

When Charlotte felt his hand slip in-between her thighs, she quickly grabbed it and pushed it away.

"Not now Coop, I don't have time."

"Come on, Char," he moaned. "You can't leave me hanging."

"Sorry, honey," she turned back around and gave him a kiss. "How about I make it up to you tonight?"

Cooper grinned and kissed her back. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Not long after finishing their shower, Charlotte was standing at the sink, blow drying her hair when Cooper walked in to brush his teeth.

"I got the girls up and fed them breakfast. They're in their bedroom waiting for you to get them dressed."

"Alright. Are they cranky?"

"Ella was a little bit fussy, but Eden and Emmy were in a surprisingly good mood."

"Good. I was thinkin' we could tell them about the baby tonight. Everyone else already knows, so I guess we should go ahead and tell the girls. Plus, I don't think I can hide this bump much longer."

Cooper spit his mouthwash out and rinsed his mouth. "Yea, I think today would be a great day to tell them."

"Should we spoil them a little bit first? Maybe take them to the toy store, or take them out for dinner and a movie?" She asked, sounding a bit frantic. "I just want to make sure they know we're not gonna love them any less, and that this baby isn't gonna replace them."

"Charlotte, you're making this a lot harder than it has to be." Cooper said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I know," she sighed. "I don't know why I'm so nervous about telling them. I guess I just want them to be my babies forever."

Cooper leaned in and kissed his wife's cheek. "They will always be your babies, sweetie."

Charlotte sighed and gave him a small smile in return.

Cooper walked out of the bathroom to get dressed, and he shut the bathroom behind him as Charlotte continued to get ready.

* * *

Cooper was standing in the closet, trying to decide on which shirt to wear when he heard a tiny voice call out for him.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look!" Emmy yelled, running into her parent's bedroom.

"Give me one second, sweetheart." Cooper called back as he buttoned up his shirt.

Emmy climbed up on the bed and waited for her dad to come out.

When Cooper walked out of the closet, Emmy stood up on the bed and threw her arms up in the air. Cooper put his hand over his mouth and tried his absolute hardest not to burst into laughter.

"Look at me, Daddy!" She exclaimed. "I gotted dressed all by myself!"

Emmy stood on the bed wearing a green sweater with butterflies on it, a pink tutu, red polka dotted leggings, and her favorite purple cowgirl boots.

"I'm a big girl," she grinned.

"You sure are," he chuckled.

Cooper quickly grabbed his phone so he could get a picture.

"Do you like it Daddy?"

"I absolutely love it, princess. You look so pretty." Cooper walked closer to the bed and held up his phone. "Say cheese."

Emmy put her hands on her hips and smiled as big as she could.

"Okay, now you need to sit down before your momma sees you standing on the bed with your shoes on, little missy." He whispered to her.

Cooper grabbed Emmy's feet and playfully pulled them from under her. She let out a loud giggle as she fell back onto the bed.

He couldn't let her go to daycare wearing that outfit, but he just didn't want to break her little heart.

"Stay right here, Em. I'm gonna go get momma, so she can see how pretty you look."

Cooper opened the door to their bathroom and poked his head inside.

"Come out here for a sec," he told his wife as she stood at the sink curling her hair. "You have to see this."

Charlotte set down her curling iron and walked out of the bathroom. When she saw her daughter sitting on the bed, she bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back the laughter.

"Look at you, baby girl."

"I picked it out all by myself, Mama!" She said proudly.

"You did? I never would've guessed." Charlotte joked, then turned to face Cooper. "Please tell me you got a picture of this."

"Of course I did." He replied.

"There's no way we're letting her leave the house like that." Charlotte told him quietly.

"I know, I just didn't have the heart to tell her."

"Oh, so that's why you came and got me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "You want me to be the bad guy and tell her she has to change?"

"Yea, I just couldn't do it," he said, looking over at the miniature Charlotte. "But honestly, I don't think either one of us is going to be able to get her out of that. She's so proud of herself."

"Ten bucks says I can convince her to change," Charlotte boasted.

"Oh, I highly doubt that. This is Charlotte Jr. we're talking about. She's more stubborn than you are. There's no way you're gonna change her mind." Cooper chuckled.

"Watch me."

Charlotte walked over to the bed and sat down next to her daughter.

"I really love your outfit Em, but maybe you should wear something else. Let's save this outfit for another day."

"No, I wanna wear this! Daddy said I look pretty." She smiled, grabbing her tutu and bunching it up in her hands.

"And Daddy was absolutely right. You do look very pretty," she smiled back at Emmy. "But how about we take this off, and you can put it back on when we get home."

"But I don't wanna take it off," she pouted.

Charlotte sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"You want to hear a story?" She asked Emmy.

Emmy nodded, and Charlotte pulled her onto her lap.

"When I was a few years older than you, I had dress, and it was my favorite dress in the whole wide world. It was white, and it had pretty pink flowers all over it. I wore it on my very first day of first grade."

Cooper leaned against the wall as he listened to wife, and wondered where she was going with this.

"There was a girl in my class named Stacey," she continued, "and she was jealous of my dress."

"What does that mean?" Emmy asked, looking up at Charlotte.

"Jealous is when you get upset because someone else has something that you really want."

"She wanted your dress?"

"Yup," Charlotte nodded. "So, at lunch that day, Stacey spilled her fruit punch all over my dress, and it wasn't an accident. She did it on purpose."

"She did?" Emmy asked with big eyes. "Did you cry, Mama?"

"I sure did." Charlotte answered. "When I got home, my momma washed it, but the stain didn't come out. Stacey ruined my favorite dress, and I never got to wear it again. So maybe you should wear a different outfit, because someone might get jealous, and we don't want anyone to ruin your favorite outfit, right?"

"Right," Emmy replied.

Charlotte kissed her cheek and set her down on the floor. "Go take all that off and you can put it back on when we get home."

Emmy headed for the door, then stopped and turned back around.

"Should I hide it in a super secret place so no one can spill juice on it?" She asked her mother.

"Yeah," Charlotte laughed. "That's a great idea, Em."

"Okay!" She exclaimed and ran to her room.

Charlotte got up and walked back into the bathroom to finish curling her hair.

"You honestly think the other daycare kids would have been jealous?" Cooper laughed, following behind her.

"No, but that's not the point" she chuckled. "The point is that I convinced her to change, and I believe you owe me ten bucks, mister."

"You know, pretty soon it won't be tutu's and polka dot tights. We'll be trying to get them to change out of mini skirts and low-cut tops."

"That's a pretty scary thought. Gosh," Charlotte sighed. "I don't want them to grow up."

"Yeah, me neither, Char."

* * *

Later that night, after giving the triplets their bath and getting them into their pajama's, the girls all gathered in their parent's bed so Charlotte and Cooper could tell them the news.

Charlotte had taken off work early so that she and Cooper could spend the rest of the day with the girls. They took them to Toy's R Us and let them each pick out their own toy, then they went out for ice cream. Cooper argued against the idea of spoiling them, but Charlotte wanted to make sure the girls were in a good mood when they told them about the baby. It had obviously worked because they were as happy ever and had been smiling all day.

"Are we sleeping wif you tonight, Mama?" Ella asked as she crawled up next to Charlotte.

"No, you're gonna sleep in your own beds, but first Daddy and I have to tell you something."

Charlotte grabbed the end of her loose t-shirt and lifted it until her entire baby bump was showing.

"You see this bump on Mama's tummy?" She asked them, and they nodded.

Eden imitated her mother and pulled her shirt up too. "It's like when we eat too much and our belly's get real full," she said, patting her stomach.

Cooper laughed and pulled Eden's shirt back down. "Not quite, sweetie. This is a little different."

"My belly is big, because there's a baby in there."

"There's a baby in there?" Ella asked, putting her hand on Charlotte's stomach.

"Like my baby doll?" Emmy added.

"It's kind of like your baby doll." Charlotte told her. "Only this baby is real."

"Does Daddy have a baby in his belly too?" Eden asked, feeling Cooper's stomach.

"No, only Mommy's can have babies," he answered.

Ella still had her hand placed on Charlotte's stomach and looked at it with curiosity. "Why is there a baby in there?" She asked.

She really wasn't sure how to answer that question, but she gave it her best shot.

"Well," she started slowly. "The baby has to stay in there so it can grow. When it gets big enough, we'll go to the hospital and Aunt Addie will take the it out, and we'll bring it home. Then you guys will be big sisters."

"Big sisters?" Eden asked, not exactly sure what that meant.

"Yeah. Big sister's are like special helpers." Cooper told them. "You get to help Momma and I out with the baby."

"How?" Emmy asked curiously.

"You can help us pick out new toys for the baby, and help us decorate the baby's room." He explained. "Does that sound like fun?"

"Yeah!" The girls replied in unison.

"And after the baby is born, you can help us feed it when it's hungry, or sing to it when it cries." Charlotte added.

"We can sing the song that you and Daddy sing to us when we're sad. I like that song," Ella smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sure the baby would love that." Charlotte said, smiling back at her. "Do you remember how it goes?"

Ella nodded and started to sing. "_I was standin' all alone against the world outside_."

She stopped and couldn't remember what came next, so Charlotte helped her out.

"_You were searchin' for a place to hide." _She sang, covering her face, like they always did at that part of the song. "_Lost and lonely, now you've given me the will to survive." _She continued as Cooper, Eden, and Emmy started to chime in, and they all sang the last part together.

"_When we're hungry, love will keep us alive."_

* * *

**Hope you liked this!**

**I'm thinking of either skipping of few years and continuing, or making the next chapter the last one. I haven't decided yet. Let me know what you think I should do.**

**Please review if you want more! Thanks :)**


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